Lowenthals lose at the ballot box for the first time

In 1992, Alan Lowenthal began a family political dynasty that lasted for 22 years and a streak of 22 victories at the polls. Assemblyman Bonnie Lowenthal and City Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal’s recent losses ended the streak.
Sean Hiller — Staff photographer, File

In 1992, Alan Lowenthal began a family political dynasty that lasted for 22 years and a streak of 22 victories at the polls. Assemblyman Bonnie Lowenthal and City Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal’s recent losses ended the streak.
Staff file photo

LOWENTHAL POLITICIANS

Alan Lowenthal

Offices won: Long Beach City Council, state Assembly, state Senate, U.S. Congress

Bonnie Lowenthal

Offices won: Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education, Long Beach City Council, state Assembly

Suja Lowenthal

Offices won: Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education, Long Beach City Council

Daniel Lowenthal

Offices won: Los Angeles Superior Court judge

LONG BEACH >> After 22 years and an unbroken string of 22 victorious elections, it finally happened — not once, but twice before spring turned to summer.

A Lowenthal lost at the polls.

For the youngest voters this month, in their lifetimes there has been virtually no ballot without a Lowenthal on it. Since Alan Lowenthal’s first win in 1992, four Lowenthals have held offices in Congress, the state Senate, state Assembly, Long Beach City Council, Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education and on the Los Angeles Superior Court. When one Lowenthal leaves an elected office, another often steps in to claim it.

FIRST TIME LOSSES

Long Beach mayor

Robert Garcia: 25.24 percent

Damon Dunn: 22.61 percent

Bonnie Lowenthal: 19.62 percent

Gerrie Schipske: 15.29 percent

Doug Otto: 13.53 percent

Five other candidates: 3.71 percent

70th Assembly District

Patrick O’Donnell, Democrat: 40.7 percent

John C. Goya, Republican: 32.1 percent

Suja Lowenthal, Democrat: 27.2 percent

So after so much electoral success, how did Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal and her former daughter-in-law, City Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal, lose their respective races for mayor and Assembly? Could it be that the Lowenthal juice, the name synonymous with local politics, has run out?

One of the family’s longtime political consultants, Parke Skelton, criticized the notion that being a Lowenthal is a rubber stamp for winning in politics.

“The whole myth that they are invincible because they have a particular last name is ridiculous,” Skelton said.

Political analysts have attributed Bonnie Lowenthal’s loss in the April 8 primary in large part to her competition in a 10-candidate field with three other Democrats. Specifically, she directly competed with two Democrats, City Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske and Long Beach City College Trustee Doug Otto, for older progressive votes. Primary winner, and now mayor-elect, Robert Garcia appealed to younger voters and had the support of Mayor Bob Foster. The second-place finisher, real estate investor Damon Dunn, consolidated Republicans under a pro-business banner.

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Suja Lowenthal, one of two Democrats running in the 70th Assembly District, may have been a victim of the state’s top-two primary system on June 3. The new system, which was first put into practice in 2012, sends the top two finishers regardless of party to the November election, with the idea being that more moderate candidates will advance because they must appeal to the whole electorate instead of one party.

In a district like the heavily blue 70th, it also pitted Democrats against each other. The result: a race rife with negativity and some attacks against Suja Lowenthal that were considered by many to be unusually demeaning, including one mailer that portrayed her happily writing in child-like prose in a diary about various benefits she allegedly derived from her positions at taxpayer expense. City Councilman Patrick O’Donnell, her Democratic opponent, advanced to the general election along with Republican John Goya, a medical firm executive.

Suja Lowenthal could not be reached for comment, but her political future is secure for now since her council term doesn’t end until 2016.

(Suja Lowenthal technically lost a race in 2006, when she pulled out of an April school board contest because she decided to run for a council seat in June, which she won.)

Bonnie Lowenthal will finish her final Assembly term this year and said she’s been too busy representing her constituents now to decide her political future.

“I’m always going to be a Long Beach booster,” she said. “I will reveal my plans when the time comes.”

The assemblywoman claimed not to have thought much about her mayoral campaign.

Civic engagement

In the final days of Bonnie Lowenthal’s campaign, however, some of her campaign officials, discouraged by unfavorable polling numbers, privately acknowledged she would likely not advance past the primary.

Still, one supporter who worked for her in the campaign’s field operations was surprised by the outcome.

Eric Bradley, a longtime local Democratic operative (and no relation to this article’s author), acknowledged in an interview last week that the race was trending away from the campaign in the final weeks leading up to the April primary. The campaign’s commitments from phone call outreach were strong. That, and the goodwill of decades of representing the city, were thought to be enough to carry Bonnie Lowenthal into the runoff.

It was a false hope. Turnout in the primary election was below even pessimistic projections in April, with 17.5 percent casting ballots.

“Voter apathy and turnout killed us,” said Bradley.

It’s a troubling sign for Bradley, who suggested that when so few people are engaged in civic activities, such as voting, power is surrendered by the people — potentially leaving Long Beach open to the public corruption that has afflicted the small cities of southeast Los Angeles County.

“I’m not going to say that will happen, but it’s definitely something we need to really work on as a city,” Bradley said.

Patriarch wins

Though the Lowenthal unbroken victory streak was stopped at 22, U.S. Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach and the first Lowenthal to win office, came out on top of his June 3 primary. Experts expect him to win in November against Republican Andy Whallon.

And Daniel Lowenthal, Suja’s ex-husband and the son of Alan and Bonnie (they divorced in 1988), is still a Los Angeles Superior Court judge.

That guarantees Lowenthals will be around for at least a little longer, according to political consultant Jeff Adler, who closely watches Long Beach politics.

He said the continued success of Alan Lowenthal — who won a City Council seat in 1992 — demonstrates that there would not have been this long run of electoral success without the family patron known for his liberal politics and attention to minorities and the economically dispossessed.

“I think everybody else rode his coattails and used his name to establish themselves,” Adler said. “That’s not to say they didn’t accomplish anything, but I think his name and his brand of leadership is what was being sold.”

Contact Eric Bradley at 562-499-1254.

About the Author

Eric Bradley covers Long Beach City Hall and politics. He joined the Press-Telegram in August 2011 and previously reported for the Daily Breeze and the Cincinnati Enquirer. Reach the author at eric.bradley@langnews.com
or follow Eric on Twitter: EricBradleyPT.